


Cold Blood

by MistressOfMalplaquet



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, I just want to figure out Toni, Other, Sympathy sometimes comes from weird places, They COULD make one hell of a team, Toni is smart is hell, and of course Betty is too, just sayin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-31 09:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12678669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressOfMalplaquet/pseuds/MistressOfMalplaquet
Summary: Toni's a bit of a mystery, since we don't know her backstory. I developed a few snippets here to try and figure out the logic behind what she did.Plus, I like her and I want to keep liking her. *fingers crossed*





	Cold Blood

 “You know he doesn’t feel you, right? Not the way he did with her.”

“Jesus, Sweet Pea, you’re such an idiot.” Toni gets out of the car and slams the door before leaning back in for one final barb. “As if emotion can be measured and compared from person to person, plus eventually he’ll forget about her. It’s called science? Just stick it up your ass, keep your mouth shut for once, and stay here until I get back.”

She wheels and heads into the diner, the one Jughead always talks about. He’s been sad for days, not laughing or even smiling. Maybe, just maybe, some food other than cereal (all he has in the trailer) will help.

Toni nods curtly at the man behind the counter and places her order: cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake. “To go,” she adds.

That’s when she catches a slight movement towards the back of the diner. Toni leans back and curses under her breath when she sees who it is.

Betty’s alone in the booth, an uneaten sandwich in a plastic basket at her elbow. The girl is staring at her phone and, when it rings with a sudden blare of bubble-gum pop, jumps before answering.

Of course Toni listens in. She’s curious about this privileged daughter of Riverdale, the golden cheerleader who pulls straight A’s. But Betty’s voice is pitched low, breathy as she murmurs to her unknown caller. Toni grimaces and turns back to watch the patties sizzle on the grille, wondering briefly if Betty’s already moved on to another guy.

Probably. Citizens of Riverdale are shallow.

In Toni’s world men visit the wrong side of town, get a girl pregnant, turn out to have wives on the side. They leave for a pack of smokes and never return or, worse, stick around and beat your ass if you say the wrong thing when they’re drunk.

Toni’s mother told her once to _take what she wanted, don’t let anyone hold you back baby, because if you do you’ll get shit on._ Toni, who was seven at the time, nodded and got more ice for her mom’s black eye. Later, ‘Mom’ left Toni alone too. Months after that, Toni discovered the woman wasn’t related to her at all, and the Riverdale guy who fathered her totally checked out.

“In town for a visit?” the guy cooking the burgers asks.

“No.” Toni doesn’t want to chat, just get the food and leave as quickly as possible. Pops, if that really is his name, seems to catch her mood and turns back to the meat without further questions.

Toni taps her lip with one finger and thinks about SweetPea’s remark. She knows he’s right about Jughead’s feelings, except it doesn’t matter. When he sat next to her in the trailer after running the gauntlet, bleeding and newly-tattooed, she had wanted to give him something that at least wasn’t pain. And when he revealed that he was newly single – well.

But if she’s honest with herself, she also knows she took advantage.

Still. Freedom from pain for one minute. It’s all she has to offer.

The phone rings again with that damn ringtone. _Lollipop, lollipop…_ Toni wants to stride over, grab it, and throw the damn thing through the window. But Betty picks it up, answers, and murmurs again.

About to pay for the food, Toni jumps when the Lollipop phone shatters on the floor. Betty has dropped it and covered her face with both hands.

She doesn’t know the girl, but Toni does know what PTSD looks like. She’s studied crime all her life, seen footage of victims of abuse and kidnapping. When Pops steps forward as if he’s going to talk to Betty, Toni stops him with one hand on his white sleeve. “Hey,” she declares. “I got this.”

#

Betty feels as though her blood is pig-iron, liquid metal sludge in her veins. The electronic voice seems to have taken over her thoughts, with her even in dreams. _You’re like me,_ he says. _We’re alike. Only I understand your deepest, darkest desires._

Guilt burns through her, and she doesn’t know how she’ll survive the next few years until she can leave Riverdale forever. Betty has named a victim in order to save her family. She’s hurt Veronica irreparably.

Worst of all, she begged Archie to break up with Jughead for her. Betty knew if she confronted her boyfriend in person she’d never have been able to go through with it. Jughead knows her, every inch of her. He would see desperation in her eyes and demand to know the truth about the Black Hood.

And he would get ‘carved like a pumpkin’ as a result.

For English, Betty once read an F. Scott Fitzgerald story about a man who lost the girl he loved. When he discovered she had died, the main character mourned her loss: that the girl’s beauty and youth no longer existed anywhere in the world.

Betty no longer has Jughead. It is a fact. However, he is still alive somewhere – in another world, not hers - and she simply must learn to take comfort from that fact.

Her phone rings again just as she’s about to push away her untouched lunch and leave. When the voice demands another name that evening, that she must give him another victim, her hands shake so badly she drops the phone on the floor.

When she sits up, there’s someone in the booth with her.

Betty shrieks and slams back in the seat. She presses one hand over her fluttering heart, willing the frightened bird inside her rib cage to settle down. “Toni, hi,” she says in what Jughead used to call her Adulting Voice. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Toni’s intelligent eyes flick over her. “You’re in some deep shit. Right?”

“What?” After days of keeping everything a horrifying secret, Betty’s skin feels stretched with the burden of it. She tries to get herself together and play off Toni’s question with an assurance that she’s fine, everything’s fine.

“Bullshit.” Toni stops talking as Pops hands her a white bag as well as receipt. She waits until he leaves before leaning forward. “Your hands are shaking, you look like you haven’t slept in weeks, and you’re jumpy as a cat on hot coals. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing too important.” Betty pulls a notebook out of her backpack, waves it in the air, and places it on the table. “See? I have a huge exam to study for, and I won’t deny it’s been rough going the past few weeks. But I’m going to knuckle down and really learn the material tonight.”

“See, I’m going to stop you right there. Natasha Kampusch, famous kidnapping victim by the way, was unable to sit still or breathe right. Just like you. You keep opening your mouth as if you can’t get enough air.”

It’s true. Betty has felt a lump in her throat for days as though she swallowed an apple whole. Insight from this most unexpected source makes her lose her grip, and with horror she feels scalding tears slip over her cheeks. “Don’t ask,” she begs. “I simply can’t tell you.”

Toni frowns and sit back, not blinking. The girl’s gaze x-rays through Betty, and she tries to get stand, get away before she causes more chaos. But Toni places her hand over her wrist and hisses, “Cooper. Hold on.”

Betty bites the inside of her lips, willing herself not to break down. Toni doesn’t wait for an answer, just flips open Betty’s notebook and picks up a pencil. “You Riverdale types will never really understand us on the Southside, not really,” she remarks. “Trauma isn’t just not making the team or getting a D, you know.”

As she talks, Toni is writing something completely different inside Betty’s notebook. _Are you in trouble?_ _Are you being_ _watched by that freak?_

For the first time in days, Betty actually feels a flicker of hope. “Well,” she responds, “I’d love to interview you about that. Maybe run a column about Southside students in the Blue and Gold, give representation to unheard voices, that kind of thing.”

At the same time she writes: _Yes. I am._

“Huh. Check your privilege.” Tony adds, _Is this about the Black Hood?_

“I would be completely respectful, of course.” Betty takes the pencil and responds, _Yes but I can’t tell you anything else._

“Sure, sure. I’ve heard that before.” Toni finds another pen and adds, _Shit. Was that him on the phone? Is he threatening you?_

“You could help me with the interview questions – or at least approve them. Same with the final article.” _Toni, please don’t ask me about that. Lives are on the line._

“Hm. I’ll think about it.” _Fuck. Has this asshole threatened Jughead?_

Betty puts down the pencil with a click, rips out the notebook page, and puts it in her backpack. Although she's silent, she prays Toni will understand. Even at this level of subterfuge, she doesn’t feel safe answering any questions about him. “That would be great. Just let me know and we’ll set it up, but don’t tell anyone else. Promise me, Toni – no one else must know. No one.”

“I heard you the first time,” Toni snips.

“Now, any chance you have an extra cigarette? And a light?” Betty taps the top of her backpack, trying to make it clear she’ll have to burn the notebook paper in the women’s bathroom and pray no one smells smoke.

There’s a long hesitation before Toni answers, “Okay.” She hands over a Marlboro and a pack of matches, mouth turned down with what might be reluctant respect.

#

The trailer is quiet when Toni arrives, food in hand. She puts the bag on the table and pokes Jughead, who’s scowling at a geography textbook as if it’s personally responsible for all his troubles. “Went to Pops,” she announces. “Hungry?”

“What?” Jughead looks up and focuses on the bag. “Oh, yeah. Great.” He leans over to feel in his pocket, pulls out a ten-dollar bill, and throws it onto the table. “Here. Thanks,” he adds.

“It’s my treat, jackass.”

Toni waves away the money, but Jughead pushes it back. “Whatever, just take it. I don’t care.” He makes no move to eat the food.

Collapsing into the chair next to his, Toni frowns. Betty and Jughead, she thinks. She’s blond, he’s got black hair. She’s Riverdale, he’s Southside. Male, female. Cheerleader, gang member. A+ student, bit of a fuck-up.

But there are deep circles under his eyes and one hand trembles uncontrollably. You’d have to be pretty sharp to notice it, but Toni prides herself on her powers of observation.

In fact, he reminds her of someone else: Betty Cooper, so close to a breakdown in the shabby booth at Pops.

_Take what you want, baby._

With a sharp intake of breath, Toni prepares to forget what her Mom-not-Mom once advised. “Jughead,” she says. “I think there’s something seriously wrong with your girl.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Toni's a bit of a mystery, since we don't know her backstory. I developed a few snippets here to try and figure out the logic behind what she did. 
> 
> Plus, I like her and I want to keep liking her. *fingers crossed*


End file.
